Cisco Systems Inc. has disclosed a data breach resulting from a sophisticated voice phishing (vishing) attack that compromised the basic profile information of users registered on its Cisco.com platform. The incident, revealed on July 24, involved an attacker who deceived a company representative into granting access to a third-party cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
According to Cisco, the breach allowed the cybercriminal to acquire personal details of registered users, including names, organizational affiliations, addresses, Cisco-assigned user IDs, email addresses, phone numbers, and metadata related to the accounts. However, the company emphasized that no confidential organizational information, passwords, or sensitive data were stolen during the incident.
Following the attack, Cisco swiftly terminated the unauthorized access to the compromised CRM instance and initiated an investigation. The company is cooperating with data protection authorities and has begun notifying affected users as mandated by law. Cisco has also committed to enhancing security measures, including further training for personnel to help them identify and avoid potential vishing threats.
Although the number of affected individuals has not yet been disclosed, the attack is believed to be part of a broader trend linked to ongoing data theft operations targeting Salesforce accounts, attributed to the notorious ShinyHunters extortion group. Other companies, such as Adidas and Qantas, have recently reported similar breaches stemming from Salesforce vulnerabilities.